MARC STRAUS

Gallery

Natasha Das, b. 1984 in Assam, India, lives and works in New York. 

Natasha Das studied traditional figurative oil painting in Florence, Italy and after several years, frustrated with the limitations it offered her, she began her studies in the art of Aari, with an all-male artisanal group based in Assam. Aari is a traditional form of Indian embroidery that is often used in garment making. With the skills she acquired from painting, and an eye for composition, color, and perspective, she incorporated thread and textiles into her work.

In her most recent body of work, Das explores the various silks that originate in India, their regional characters, and histories. For example, researching how Eri and Muga silks are harvested and woven and what cultural customs and values are attached to them traditionally impacted her choices and compositions. Muga silk – one of the rarest and finest silks in the world that has fallen out of mainstream circulation for reasons having to do with both British colonization and more recently climate change – for its beautiful gold luster and for its traditional, non-industrialized way of sourcing and creating silk thread. On the other hand, her Eri silk series was inspired by the only non-violent way of sourcing silk fiber from a special moth that must leave the cocoon before the fiber can be harvested.

Beyond uncovering their cultural meaning, Das is interested in the potential of these materials beyond their traditional use. While oil painting and embroidery appear vastly different in terms of creative and societal constructs, gender politics, traditions, and culture, Das has found a way to link these disparate practices in unique ways. Her hybrid canvases are painted and embroidered but also deliberately de-stretched and frayed, resulting in irregular textures, and often revealing the stretching frame itself – alluding to a more conceptual approach. In some of her most recent works the painting disappears and the embroidered threads take over the picture plane providing a lavish abstraction. 

Natasha Das (b. 1984, Assam, India) studied painting in Florence, Italy, and New York. Her work has been exhibited at the Hudson Valley Museum of Contemporary Art, the Hunterdon Art Museum and Gross McLeaf Gallery in Philadelphia. Her work is included in numerous private collections in the US, Europe, and Asia, as well as in public collections such as Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and the Kiran Nadar Museum of Art in Delhi, India.

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Selected Works
Object 2, 2023
Thread on linen, muslin, Eri silk, stretched on wood panel
14 x 14 in (35.5 x 35.5 cm) -  Marc Straus Gallery
Natasha Das

Object 2, 2023
Thread on linen, muslin, Eri silk, stretched on wood panel
14 x 14 in (35.5 x 35.5 cm)

Object 1, 2023
Thread, linen and muslin stretched over wood panel
14 x 12 in (35.5 x 30.5 cm) -  Marc Straus Gallery
Natasha Das

Object 1, 2023
Thread, linen and muslin stretched over wood panel
14 x 12 in (35.5 x 30.5 cm)

Drape 2, 2022
Oil, thread, and muga silk on linen
24 x 18 in (61 x 45.75 cm) -  Marc Straus Gallery
Natasha Das

Drape 2, 2022
Oil, thread, and muga silk on linen
24 x 18 in (61 x 45.75 cm)

Untitled Pink, 2022
Oil, thread, muga silk, and linen
40 x 38 in (101.5 x 96.5 cm) -  Marc Straus Gallery
Natasha Das

Untitled Pink, 2022
Oil, thread, muga silk, and linen
40 x 38 in (101.5 x 96.5 cm)

Untitled 1, 2022
Thread, oil, muga silk, and linen
34 x 30 in (86.5 x 76.25 cm) -  Marc Straus Gallery
Natasha Das

Untitled 1, 2022
Thread, oil, muga silk, and linen
34 x 30 in (86.5 x 76.25 cm)

In Tandem, 2023
Embroidery on Eri silk, muga silk, and muslin
24 x 18 in (61 x 45.75 cm) -  Marc Straus Gallery
Natasha Das

In Tandem, 2023
Embroidery on Eri silk, muga silk, and muslin
24 x 18 in (61 x 45.75 cm)

Eri 1, 2022
Eri silk and thread work stretched on linen
42 x 38 in (106.75 x 96.5 cm) -  Marc Straus Gallery
Natasha Das

Eri 1, 2022
Eri silk and thread work stretched on linen
42 x 38 in (106.75 x 96.5 cm)

Eri - 2, 2022
Thread work on Eri silk and stretched on linen
16 x 14 in (40.75 x 35.5 cm) -  Marc Straus Gallery
Natasha Das

Eri - 2, 2022
Thread work on Eri silk and stretched on linen
16 x 14 in (40.75 x 35.5 cm)

Cerulean - the sky|heaven|the sea, 2022
Oil paint and thread on linen
24 x 18 in (61 x 45.75 cm) -  Marc Straus Gallery
Natasha Das

Cerulean - the sky|heaven|the sea, 2022
Oil paint and thread on linen
24 x 18 in (61 x 45.75 cm)

Locale 5, Trace 1, 2023
Thread work on Eri silk and Ghisa silk
76 x 52 in (193 x 132.1 cm) -  Marc Straus Gallery
Natasha Das

Locale 5, Trace 1, 2023
Thread work on Eri silk and Ghisa silk
76 x 52 in (193 x 132.1 cm)

Locale 6, India, 2023
Thread work on Tula and Eri silk
60 x 48 in (152.4 x 122 cm) -  Marc Straus Gallery
Natasha Das

Locale 6, India, 2023
Thread work on Tula and Eri silk
60 x 48 in (152.4 x 122 cm)

Village/Gaon 2, 2023
Thread work on tea-dyed Eri silk
34 x 33 in (86.4 x 83.8 cm) -  Marc Straus Gallery
Natasha Das

Village/Gaon 2, 2023
Thread work on tea-dyed Eri silk
34 x 33 in (86.4 x 83.8 cm)

Object 3, 2023
Lac and turmeric hand-dyed silk, thread work on sculpted stretcher bars
14x11 in (35.5 x 28 cm) -  Marc Straus Gallery
Natasha Das

Object 3, 2023
Lac and turmeric hand-dyed silk, thread work on sculpted stretcher bars
14x11 in (35.5 x 28 cm)

Locale 1 – Purple, 2023
Thread on Tula (Indian cotton) and Eri silk
60x48 in (152.4 x 122 cm) -  Marc Straus Gallery
Natasha Das

Locale 1 – Purple, 2023
Thread on Tula (Indian cotton) and Eri silk
60x48 in (152.4 x 122 cm)

Object 4, 2023
Lac and turmeric hand-dyed silk, thread work on sculpted stretcher bars
14 x 11 in (35.3 x 28 cm) -  Marc Straus Gallery
Natasha Das

Object 4, 2023
Lac and turmeric hand-dyed silk, thread work on sculpted stretcher bars
14 x 11 in (35.3 x 28 cm)

Object 6, 2023
Lac and indigo hand-dyed Eri silk, thread work on sculpted stretcher bar
18 x 16 in (45.75 x 40.6 cm) -  Marc Straus Gallery
Natasha Das

Object 6, 2023
Lac and indigo hand-dyed Eri silk, thread work on sculpted stretcher bar
18 x 16 in (45.75 x 40.6 cm)

Locale 4, Trace 2, 2023
Thread work, Khadi, Tula, Eri, and Ghisa silk
60 x 48 in (152.4 x 122 cm) -  Marc Straus Gallery
Natasha Das

Locale 4, Trace 2, 2023
Thread work, Khadi, Tula, Eri, and Ghisa silk
60 x 48 in (152.4 x 122 cm)

Plot 1, 2023
Thread work on Khadi, Tula, and linen
40 x 42 in (101.6 x 106.7 cm) -  Marc Straus Gallery
Natasha Das

Plot 1, 2023
Thread work on Khadi, Tula, and linen
40 x 42 in (101.6 x 106.7 cm)

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